SILVER CITY, N.M. — St. Edward's volleyball twice took a set lead and rallied from four points down in the fifth, but Western New Mexico had the last two swings, ending the Hilltoppers' seven-match winning streak with a 15-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-15, 16-14 victory Saturday at Drag's Court.
The Hilltoppers finished the regular season 17-10 overall and 12-5 in Lone Star Conference play. St. Edward's earned the No. 4 seed in the LSC Volleyball Championship and will face fifth-seeded Midwestern State in the quarterfinals Thursday, Nov. 12, at 4:30 p.m. CT at the Junell Center-Stephens Arena in San Angelo, Texas. It will be the Hilltoppers' first conference tournament appearance since 2021.
GRACE MCDONALD led St. Edward's with a career-high 18 kills on .455 hitting, adding eight digs and two block assists. KELLI FORDING finished with 13 kills, CARRINGTON JAIMES added 11, and ALTHEA MORRIS handed out 52 assists.
The Hilltoppers were at their best when they could get off the net quickly and turn clean passes into first-swing kills. They hit .483 in both the first and third sets, combining for 31 kills and only three attack errors. St. Edward's sided out on 13 of Western New Mexico's 16 serves in the opener, then closed a tighter third set with a McDonald kill for a 23-20 lead and a Fording kill on set point.
Western New Mexico disrupted that rhythm in the second and fourth sets, holding St. Edward's to .000 and .029 hitting, respectively. The Mustangs finished with a 14-5 advantage in blocks and hit .467 with just one attack error in the fourth to force a deciding set.
Western New Mexico opened the fifth with a 5-1 lead and still led 9-5 before Jaimes put down back-to-back kills and teamed with LANDRY BAUGHMAN for a block to pull the Hilltoppers within one. The Mustangs stretched the margin back to 12-9, but St. Edward's scored four straight out of a timeout. MIA CLAY and McDonald brought the Hilltoppers even, and BELLA BRICENO put away a Morris set for a 13-12 lead.
Jayden Hughes tied the set with a kill and teamed with Daphne Posthumus for a block to give Western New Mexico match point. Clay answered with a kill to make it 14-14, but Hughes and Isabella Brewer put away the next two points to end the match.
GISELLE OJEDA led St. Edward's with 16 digs and added an ace, while IVY WACLAWCZYK recorded 10 digs. Brewer led Western New Mexico with 16 kills, and Posthumus added 12 kills, 18 digs, and nine total blocks.
Thursday's quarterfinal is a rematch of St. Edward's September road sweep of Midwestern State. The winner advances to Friday's 7 p.m. semifinal against the winner of the quarterfinal between top-seeded Angelo State and the Western New Mexico–West Texas A&M first-round winner.
